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Nature

Our age is retrospective. It builds the sepulchres of the fathers. It writes biographies, histories, and criticism. The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?

The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer: The Art of Literature

The contents of this, as of the other volumes in the series, have been drawn from Schopenhauer's Parerga, and amongst the various subjects dealt with in that famous collection of essays, Literature holds an important place. Nor can Schopenhauer's opinions fail to be of special value when he treats of literary form and method.

Moby-Dick

Labeled variously a realistic story of whaling, a romance of unusual adventure and eccentric characters, a symbolic allegory, and a drama of heroic conflict, Moby Dick is first and foremost a great story. It has both the humor and poignancy of a simple sea ballad, as well as the depth and universality of a grand odyssey.

Essays

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a leader in the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He is best known for his political philosophy and ideological thoughts on the moral worth of the individual and his work greatly influenced many of the great thinkers of his time, including Henry David Thoreau.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Left unfinished at the time of his death, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin has endured as one of the most well-known and influential autobiographies ever written. From his early years in Boston and Philadelphia to the publication of his Poor Richard's Almanac to the American Revolution and beyond, Franklin's autobiography is a fascinating, personal exploration into the life of America's most interesting founding father.

The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis

What can we still learn from C.S. Lewis? Find out in these 12 insightful lectures that cover the author's spiritual autobiography, novels, and his scholarly writings that reflect on pain and grief, love and friendship, prophecy and miracles, and education and mythology.

A Tale of Two Cities [Tantor]

A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens's most exciting novels. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, it tells the story of a family threatened by the terrible events of the past. Doctor Manette was wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years without trial by the aristocratic authorities.

Walden on Wheels: On the Open Road from Debt to Freedom

The story of a student who went to extraordinary lengths - including living in a van on a campus parking lot - to complete his education without sacrificing his financial future. In a frank and self-deprecating voice, memoirist Ken Ilgunas writes about the existential terror of graduating from college with $32,000 in student debt. Inspired by Thoreau, Ilgunas set himself a mission: get out of debt as soon as humanly possible. To that end, he undertook an extraordinary three-year transcontinental journey.

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel

Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal life - from six weeks to four months to two years - to discover and experience the world on your own terms. Veteran shoestring traveler Rolf Potts shows how anyone armed with an independent spirit can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

A natural storyteller and raconteur in his own right - just listen to Paddle Your Own Canoe and Gumption - actor, comedian, carpenter, and all-around manly man Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) brings his distinctive baritone and a fine-tuned comic versatility to Twain's writing. In a knockout performance, he doesn't so much as read Twain's words as he does rejoice in them, delighting in the hijinks of Tom - whom he lovingly refers to as a "great scam artist" and "true American hero".

My First Summer in the Sierra

It was June of 1869 when John Muir reluctantly accepted a job herding sheep from the central valley of California to the headwaters of the Merced and Tuolumne Rivers, high into the Sierra Nevadas and deep into the Yosemite region. He felt ill equipped for the work, and yet the opportunity thrilled his adventurous spirit. With a notebook tied to his belt, he set out for a summer he would never forget. My First Summer in the Sierra is Muir’s classic account of that extraordinary journey.

Letters from a Stoic: Volume 1

Continue to act thus, my dear Lucilius - set yourself free for your own sake; gather and save your time, which till lately has been forced from you, or filched away, or has merely slipped from your hands. Make yourself believe the truth of my words, that certain moments are torn from us, that some are gently removed, and that others glide beyond our reach. The most disgraceful kind of loss, however, is that due to carelessness.

Publisher's Summary

In 1845 Henry David Thoreau, one of the principal New England Transcendentalists, left the small town of Concord for the country. Beside the lake of Walden he built himself a log cabin and returned to nature, to observe and reflect – while surviving on eight dollars a year.

From this experience emerged Walden, one of the great classics of American literature, and a deeply personal reaction against the commercialism and materialism that Thoreau saw as the main impulses of mid-19th-century America. Here also is Civil Disobedience, Thoreau’s essay on just resistance to government, which not only challenged the establishment of his day but has been used as a flag for later campaigners from Mahatma Ghandi to Dr Martin Luther King.

Thoreau wrote with passion and sometimes anger. The performance reflects Thoreau's bitterness with the government and people of Concord and the United States. Thoreau looks deep into himself and society. The writing is amazing and Degas played to the character almost as if he was an old friend of Thoreau.

The reader conveyed a persistent tone of anger, resentment and scorn. Never just thoughtful. I kept wondering what voice I would have heard reading the actual book and how reading it myself would have changed my experience of the book.

Henry David could not read Walden's timeless words any better than Degas. I've listened to it many times, and I hear new wisdom with each listen. I first read Walden 50 years ago, and Thoreau's message is just as timey today as it was then. Degas does justice to this everlasting classic. Thoreau by Degas is a treasure for all nature lovers.

The book is amazing but most of the literate world already knows this. The reading is ok. At first sounding poetic but as the tone of each sentence goes through the same cyle of inflection, it starts to become repetitious and boring. The narrator begins each sentence strong and clear and slowly meanders to a quiet finish, almost whispering the last words. This would be fine ocaasionally but as it continues to recur you get exhausted listening to him. By no way should this trump the importance of this book in every collection and if your prefered method of digestion is auditory, I maintain a high recommendation for the purchase of this work.

This is a great book, but I couldn't get into listening to it. I found myself drifting off to sleep or day dreaming. I think this was partly because the narrator's voice is rather depressing to listen to--flat, sad and dejected--although this very well may be the tone of the writer's voice and not the narrator's fault.

Would you try another book from Henry David Thoreau and/or Rupert Degas?

Probably Not!

What was most disappointing about Henry David Thoreau’s story?

The most disappointing part of the book is that there was hardly any chronology. Instead he rants about this and that and occasionally talks of his actual experience/adventure of living at Walden Pond. Thoreau did what millions have been doing throughout the ages and are still doing today (living simply). He wasn't that far from neighbors or a town (<2miles), and he speaks of having many guests stopping by. In my opinion he didn't do anything that would be considered that unique for present day, and by no means was it unique for someone to build a simple cabin in the 1840s and live off of the land around them.

I had no problem with the recording or performance. It could just be me, but I found little of value in Walden - wasn't what I was expecting, and found myself skipping lots. This would be a worse review if it weren't for Civil Disobedience, which I'd read before, so I already knew that was good - that's 4 or 5 star content, but can probably get it elsewhere.

2 of 5 people found this review helpful

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